Fiber product.



nivrir earns Parnn onto."

JAMES MCINTOSI-I, E NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO DIAMOND STATE FIBRE COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPOR'I, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- Patented Aug. 14L, 191 .7. Serial No. 105,411.

WARE.

. FIBER PRODUCT.

I 1323fi4611, Specification of Letters Patent.

' No Drawing. Application filed June 23, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be' it known that I, JAMEs MoINTosH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of N orristown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, have invented a Fiber Product, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a leather-like substance which while possessing the mechanical strength and toughness of vulcanized fiber, shall be relatively flexible as well as to a large degree impervious to Water.

In carrying out my invention I prepare vulcanized or parchmentized fiber in any of the Well known ways, such for example as passing a paper web through a solution of zinc chlorid and immediately thereafter winding it upon a heated roll to form a hollow cylinder with walls of the desired thickness. In being applied to the roll the web is subjected to pressure and after it has been made of the required thickness the cylinder is cut and removed, the remaining zinc" chlorid being washed out by soaking the developed sheet in Water or other suitable solvent.

According to my invention this sheet of vulcanized fiber, if of one-quarter of an inch or less in. thickness, is placed in a body of sulfonated oil or other soluble oil such as an emulsified mineral oil, being left in this liq uid for a period depending upon its thickness. Thereupon it gradually becomes completely and uniformly impregnated by the soluble oil, although if the fiber is over onequarter of an inch in thickness, I find it is desirable to hasten the process by first resulfonated oil. a

moving the water in the fiber sheet by immersingit in a'liquid, such as acetone, Which has the property of completely displacing such water.

Thereafter the fiber impregnated with the acetone is immersed in the soluble oil, Which in turn displaces the acetone in the sheet and as before, completely and uniformly impregnates the same throughout its mass.

If desired, a mixture of soluble oil and a fatty acid, or with rosin oil, mineral oil, etc., may be employed'without departing from my invention.

I have found'by experiment that with socalled green fiber, one-quarter of an inch in thickness, a period of approximately 36 hours is required for its impregnation by acetone and thereafter an immersion of 48 hours in sulfonated oil will cause the acetone in the fiber mass to be completely replaced by the latter. Green fiber of the same thicknesswhen immersed directly in sulfonated oil requires several weeks for its uniform impregnation. Obviously by the same means vulcanized fiber in the green or soft stage may be impregnated with other so-called soluble oils, with the result that it is made relatively flexible and to a greater or less degree waterproof or water repellent.

1. A new article of manufacture consisting of parchmentizedfiber impregnated With a modified oil.

2. A new article of manufacture consisting ofparchmentized fiber impregnated With JAMES MCINTOSPL. 

